WASHINGTON — The tension between Department of Government Efficiency lead Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent came to a head last week when the two had a heated argument in the halls of the White House, two sources familiar with the tiff told The Post.
The conversation — about the IRS — got so tense, Axios first reported, the two men got in each other’s faces in earshot of President Trump.
“Elon was shouting and rambling and Scott just wasn’t putting up with it,” one source close to the White House said.
A second source close to the White House said that the fight was fundamentally about the different visions the two men have for reform, with Musk taking a more aggressive approach.
“Bessent has two mandates: reform and stabilize,” the source said.
“Elon has one mandate: break things in the process of reform.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was also present for the conversation and seemed to take Musk’s side, the source added.
“It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response.
“Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process,” she added. “And ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump.”
This isn’t the first time that Musk has had a public dispute with top level Trump administration members.
He was publicly vying on X for Lutnick to be Treasury secretary — arguing that he “will actually enact change” — but Trump went for Bessent instead.
“Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas [Howard Lutnick] will actually enact change,” Musk wrote in November.
“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change.”
Musk then got into an X feud with senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro, calling him a “moron.”
“Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk wrote on X, in response to Navarro calling Tesla a “car assembler.”
“Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.”
Musk will pull back his presence at the end of May as his appointment as a special government employee comes to a close, he reportedly told Tesla shareholders on Tuesday.
But he said he will still be open to contributing a day or two a week to DOGE-related matters.
Representatives for Musk, Bessent and Lutnick did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Post.
